Complete Surrender

I talked a few weeks ago, for Campus Crusade in Pretoria, about time management and how we should be giving our time to God, since he made everything and everything centers around Him (or it should). I will get some of my ideas and what I talked about up here sometime soon. A friend of my had this on his site and the first time I read it, I didn’t really read it fully, but the second time I can totally see how this fits with what I was talking about. I probably could have used this and not anything I had worked on, but is good to remember again.

“The idea of complete surrender is amazing. This surrender is so much more then just giving God part of your time or part of a certain area of your life, but not other parts of your life. Sometimes we Christians hold onto something (or many things) and don’t give God control of our whole lives.

All of our life. / Completely. / Fully. / All our time. All our dreams, Fears, Worries, All of our life.

That is what God calls us to do. To give Him complete control of over every aspect of our lives Completely!

This act of surrender is quit the act of love towards God. Complete surrender calls us to humble ourselves. To surrender means to give control or rule over what is surrendered to someone in a higher place. (Webster’s)

As American’s we are very individualistic. It’s hard for us to give up every aspect of life to someone other than ourselves. We grow up chasing the ‘American Dream,’ whatever that means. This ‘dream’ has a great sense of “I’m doing what I’m doing for me” and “I do all the work” and “Me, me me!!!”

The complete surrender to God calls us to forget this idea of ‘me.’ Instead of doing a good work or deed to bring glory to ourselves, God calls us to do good works and deeds to bring Him glory. Instead of worrying about doing all the work ourselves and relying on our own strength, God calls us to rely on His strength and not our own.

This idea of needing dependence on someone to give us strength or the idea of giving glory for something we did (or at least we think we did on our own) to God is very humbling. In this humbling of ourselves, this removal of our own train of thought our own will replacing it with God’s thought process (or heart) God’s will.

This humbling act is an amazing display of our own love for the Father.

We become to love God so much and so deeply that we are willing to humble ourselves and place our will off to the side and embrace God’s will and rule over our lives.

That, is complete surrender!”

God asks us to give everything to him, not just bits and pieces, but the whole thing – our whole life – and leave it up to Him. He knows exactly what we need because He made us and knows what is in our path til the end. Matthew 6 :33 says, “But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you”. Jesus was talking about us worrying about what we should eat and drink and what we should wear, and how we need not to be anxious, but trust in Him fully. A couple other passages I thought would go along with this:

16’And behold, a man came up to him saying, “Teacher, what good deed must I do to have eternal life?” 17And He said to him, ‘Why do you ask me about what is good? There is only one who is good. If you would enter life, keep the commandments.” 18He said to him, “Which ones?” And Jesus said, “You shall not murder, You shall not commit adultery, You shall not steal, You shall not bear false witness, 19Honor your father and mother, and, You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” 20The young man said to him, “All these I have kept. What do I still lack?” 21 Jesus said to him, “If you would be perfect, go, sell what you possess and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me.” 22When the young man heard this he went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions. 23And Jesus said to his disciples, “Truly, I say to you, only with difficulty will a rich person enter the kingdom of heaven. 24Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle that for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God.” 25When the disciples heard this, they were greatly astonished, saying “Who then can be saved?” 26But Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.” 27Then Peter said in reply, “see we have left everything and followed you. What then will we have? 28Jesus said to them, “Truly, I say to you, in the new world, when the Son of Man will sit on his glorious throne, you who have followed me will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. 29And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or lands, for My name’s sake, will receive a hundredfold and will inherit eternal life. 30But many who are first will be last, and the last first.” Matthew 19:16-30

24’Then Jesus told His disciples, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. 25 For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it. 26For what will profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his life? Or what shall a man give in return for his life? 27For the Son of Man is going to come with his angels in the glory of His Father, and then He will repay each person according to what he has done. 28Truly, I say to you, there are some standing here who will not taste death until they see the Son of Man coming in His kingdom.” Matthew 16:24-28

Let us summit our all, each and everyday to Christ as our Helper and Provider!